High Winds
by valagator
Summary: No powers AU. Oneshot unless more is requested. A tornado hits Lloyd's school, but when the world comes crashing down around him, Lloyd has to find strength that he didn't know he had. (Greenflame)


I got the idea for this story while watching _Tornado Alley_ on the Weather Channel. This is a no powers AU. But I guess they're still heroes in a way!

* * *

Lloyd~

 _When the siren went off that day, I knew my world would come crashing down around me. It was a normal day, the skies were fair, and it felt like another uneventful morning._

As a 12th grader, I sit in my AP calc class, my chin resting in my palm, and eyes drooping. The entire K-12 school is supposed to be attending the 7th grader's play in twenty minutes, but the clock hands can't seem to move fast enough. I successfully tune out my teacher's excessive droning, and turn my head to the side, facing the window. My lids lift, and I let out a small gasp. The sky has turned from blue to black amazingly fast. The only remaining traces of blue sit on the very edge of the horizon. I stealthily lean over to my left slightly and flick my friend Jay in the head.

"Ow!" He whisper-shouts, sending me a glare that wouldn't even scare a second grader. But I can't smile this time. I just casually nod my head toward the window, silently signaling him to look. He rolls his eyes and looks over my shoulder to the window, but when he sees, his eyes widen just as mine had. I can see the hair on his arms standing on end; that happens to him before ALL thunderstorms, even if they're not predicted. I guess it's just a power he has. He has just as bad a feeling as I do. This is not normal May weather. Our teacher has stopped talking, so I turn my head back to the front of the room, expecting to get yelled at for being distracted, but he's not doing anything. He's just looking out the window, just as Jay and I were.

Just then, the PA crackles to life, and our principal's voice booms throughout the classroom.

* * *

"Students and Staff," He starts. "If you haven't noticed already, the clouds outside are coming in, and the NWS (Ninjago weather Service) has issued a tornado alert for our town. I'd like everyone to stay calm, but we will not be releasing students to their next classes. All students are to stay put in their classrooms until the storm passes. The show will also be postponed. That will be all." And the voice fades, and the PA shuts off with a click.

I look around the room to see everyone's reactions. Jay doesn't look surprised, since he already knew from his instincts. The girl sitting next to me on my right, Skylor, doesn't seem to care. Her father is a convict who just got into Cryparium prison for organized gang fighting. She just studies her cuticles and twirls a lock of curly red hair around her left pointer finger. Then there's the boy sitting behind me, Griffin. I turn around to face him, but he just looks as hyper as ever. He's the star of the track team, and swears that he can run a mile in under three minutes. He always looks like he's had too much coffee. Then there's Cole, who sits in front of me. He looks mildly frightened, since he's secretly afraid of storms. We've been friends since I came here from boarding school a few years ago, and through that crazy growth spurt that made it look like I'd aged six years in a day. He's head of the art club, and is the best sculptor in the school. To his left sits Neuro, who has a sick white and grey haircut. He just sits there, stony faced as usual. He's quiet, but he can tell what you're thinking just by studying your body language, it's crazy. Sitting on the other side of Cole is Zane, who looks unbothered as he returns his pencil to his paper, eager to write more notes. I swear, the dude's inhuman! He's so smart, he could be a droid! And lastly of the people I know or care about in this class is Kai.

'Ahhh' I sigh out loud just thinking about him. He has perfectly messy spiked brown hair, and beautiful red and gold eyes. He's a spot welder, and is always trying to be around some kind of fire. Yes, I'm gay. Not many people know it, because I'm careful of whom I tell. Anyway, he looks a little panicked, I wonder why. Last, and most certainly least, is our teacher, Mr. Garmadon. Everyone else just feels neutral about him, but I don't like him much. It might have to do with the fact that I'm his son. Anyway, he has a bit of fear in his eyes, but quickly composes himself.

"You heard him! Okay, now let's get back to learning!" Garmadon says, his usual strong and even voice now unsteady. He goes back to teaching, despite the obvious unsettlement of the class. I tear a piece of paper from my notebook, and start scribbling down a note.

'Dude! I have a bad feeling about this storm. I think something bad is going to come from it.' I write, before tapping Cole twice on the back. He puts his hands over his head so that it looks like he's stretching to the teacher, but he's really just grabbing the note from me. I watch the back of his head while he reads it.

"Ahem. Lloyd?" I hear. I accidentally flinch.

"Y-yes?" I ask, nervously.

"What is the answer to the equation? I saw you writing so diligently, you must have the answer." He says. Crap.

"Uhh…" Is all I can get out. I'm about to just admit that I wasn't listening, but,

"The answer is x=23" A voice says. Kai's voice. He is staring at me. I give him a grateful smile, and he smiles back. I turn back to my father, who has a grumpy look on his face.

"Correct." He mumbles. Just then, a crackle of thunder rolls through the room. Then a flash of lightning. A few small shrieks are heard, but nothing more. Here comes the storm. Mr. Garmadon puts down his piece of worn down chalk and sits in his chair. "You can have the rest of the class off due to circumstance. Stay quiet. And yes, you may go on your phones." He says. I stand up, and walk over to Kai as the rest of the class starts muttering to eachother, or pulling out earbuds from their bags.

"I just wanted to thank you for that answer back there." I say as coolly as I can. He blushes, and… wait. BLUSHES!? Anyway, he blushes, and smiles.

"No problem, green machine." He says. Now it's my turn to blush. I always hear something green. Today it's my shirt, yesterday it was my shoes, etc. My eyes are bright green, and my hair is bleach blonde. Before I can respond, a loud thump echoes through the room. Everyone quiets, and it's so still you could feel the suffocating feeling of everyone's stressed breathson your own sweaty neck. There, on the window, is a huge spider-webbed crack in the thick glass. Then another thump resonates. I can see out the other windows as I lean on Kai's desk; hail. The biggest hail I've ever seen. It comes down lightning fast, tearing through tree branches and sending them splintering to the ground below. Then, the rain comes. It starts slow, but then gathers momentum, coming down in heavy sheets within a few seconds of the start. It streams down the window, following the trails in the now cracked glass.

"Away from the windows!" I vaguely hear Garmadon say in the background, but I don't really hear him. I'm too mesmerized by the spectacle happening outside. Then, I feel a pair of strong hands pull me away. I turn around quickly, coming nose to nose with Kai.

"S-sorry," I say, embarrassed.

"It's okay." He says, gently.

"Kiss already!" I hear Jay yell. I step out of Kai's arms, and smack Jay.

"Shut up, Zap Trap!" I tell him angrily.

"Make me, Green Bean!" He jokes. I lighten up and chuckle, before a bolt of lightning illuminates the room. I hear a small whimper, and suddenly a scared Cole is right beside me. Zane walks over after him.

"This is no ordinary storm, my friends. This is a supercell, a very dangerous weather system that sometimes produces tornadoes.' He informs us. Cole gets closer to Jay and I. Soon, Kai walks over and joins our small group.

"You may want to see this!" He says, panic obvious on his face. He leads me back to the window. Outside it, I see a huge cloud. Only it's not a cloud; it's a tornado.

I shriek and jump back, panicking. Just then, another voice comes over the PA system,

"Attention all staff and students. A large tornado is approaching the school. Move all people away from windows and put as many walls between you and the outside as possible." Then the click of the PA turning off comes back.

"Okay, everyone. Follow me to the band room." Garmadon says. And for once, I agree with him.

* * *

We follow him down the hall, which is crowded with other students. I look through one of the windows and see Ash, a wannabe Kai, packing up his things. In another room, I see Camille, nervously running her fingers through her purple hair. We finally reach the band room, which is the innermost room in the school. We squeeze into the instrument closet, all of us barely fitting.

Jay and Zane are on my left and Cole on my right, with Kai basically sitting on my lap. I would usually blush considering that my crush is basically on top of me, but I'm too afraid. Just then, the lights in the small closet cut off. A few frightened whispers are shared, but otherwise the room is completely silent; the usual hum of the school's generator halted. But then it starts. A humming turns into a low rumble. The low rumble turns into a terrifying sound; it sounds like a freight train heading right for us.

"Guys, this might be it. It was great being your friends." Zane says.

"Ditto. But let's not think about that. We will live." Cole says, even though his voice is shaking, and he probably doesn't believe it himself.

"Ahh!" I yell, and cover my ears. It feels like my eardrums are being crushed from the changing pressure. The roar is getting louder and louder. I can hear things crashing, and screams everywhere. The tornado has found its way into our school. I can hear the AC units being torn off the roof, and crashing down in the hallways. I subconsciously hold the closest thing to me as tight as I can; and that 'thing' happens to be Kai's hand. He grips it back just as hard, to show me that he's with me.

Suddenly, the roar gets deafening, and bright light comes into the room. Rain drenches me from the new hole in the ceiling. We are looking up into the cone of the tornado.

I can see the winds and debris swirling around a central shaft; and that's where we are. I feel a sharp pain in my leg, and flinch. Kai's eyes find mine through the rain. He looks as terrified as I feel. I turn my head through the blinding rain to Cole, Jay and Zane. They all have their arms over their necks, but Cole doesn't look to good. I can't tell though. A piece of wood slices into the side of my face, and something hard hits me in the arm. Just as suddenly as it began, the winds died down, but the rain still poured. I take the time to look to the rest of the room. Kids are sprawled everywhere, and… and.. .

I try stand up but my injured leg does not make it easy. I finally make my way through the pack of confused and traumatized people to a now downed cabinet. Underneath it are a pair of legs; my father's legs. Under another cabinet is a hand, twitching. I want to throw up, but I turn my head away. Everyone else is staggering to their feet, trying to process what had happened.

"Morro!" A girl screeches. She runs to the hand, and grabs it, holding it in tears. I feel horrible for her, but I can't bring myself to look at my father. I look down at my bloody leg, which I can feel is about to give out. Kai, Cole, Jay and Zane make their way to me. Kai grabs my unhurt arm and puts it around his shoulder to hold me up. He is pretty much unhurt, other than a pretty sizeable gash on his cheek.

"Is everybody okay?" I yell over the drum of the rain. I get a few yeses and some no's, but I mostly get silence. Everybody is too stunned to react. I do a quick scan around the room, and no one accept the obvious are hurt; I'm the live person with the most injuries. Kai leads me out of the closet, and whole band room, (If you can even call it that anymore) and sits me in the hall. I grit my teeth in pain. He looks back at me, with worry clear in his face. My other friends come out, and kneel down next to me.

"Are you okay?" Jay asks. I nod, the pain making it hard for me to open my mouth to reply.

"Y-Yeah." I finally get out. "Go check on the rest of the school and see if anyone needs help. The place may be unstable, so you're going to have to move like ninjas, okay?" I ask them. They nod, and they're off in a flash. But Kai is still here.

"Look, you're going to be okay. We're going to make it through."He says to me. I nod, holding my tears back. He looks at my bleeding leg. "I'm going to have to tie this off, okay? It'll help stop the blood." He says.

"Go for it." I say through my gritted teeth. He takes his shirt off, and grunts as he rips it into strips. He uses one half to cover the actual wound, and the other to form a tourniquet. I squeal in pain. He looks up, but I signal him to finish. As he works, I study his now exposed chest; the muscles contorting, and stress creating knots.

"There." He says, sitting back. He surveys the destroyed halls, and the blood spattered walls. "Huh." He licks his lips. "I wonder who's blood that was…" He whispers.

"You know, I never thought this kind of stuff happened to people like me…" I say quietly. Kai scootches towards me. The other students are running through the halls and out the exits now, but we ignore them; we're in our own debris filled world. "I thought this stuff only happened to extraordinary people… the stories of the people on TV seem so unreal, that I could never imagine it happening to me… but now that it has…" I look at Kai. He has an unreadable look on his face, but with a small smile. "I don't know what to do with myself." Suddenly, Kai moves forward, and presses his lip firmly to mine. I gasp, before letting my eyes slide shut, and enjoy this sliver of light in this darkness. He pulls back.

"You are not ordinary. This tornado hasn't changed you. It's just given you a new perspective." He says.

"I've had a thing for you for so long, I was scared to ever let myself get closer to you than a friend, because I knew that since I was different, I would scare you away…" My vision is getting hazy from my blood loss.

"Lloyd… I've had a thing for you too. But… that's not important. The past isn't important now. What matters is the present." He says. "Oh God, Lloyd… we need to get you to an ambulance." He says, rushing to his feet and picking me up as my vision swims from blurry to clear. He runs with me in his arms, and I can hardly register the sounds of sirens as Kai struggles through the rubble. My vision fades.

* * *

~~Three Weeks Later~~

We found out later that the tornado that hit our school was an EF 4; the second most powerful tornado. There were three deaths; Morro, my father, and someone named Clouse. I escaped the storm with a broken femur, five stitches in my arms, and a few days of recovering my lost blood. Kai and I have been inseparable ever since; he even came to my father's funeral. Cole, Jay, and Zane have been seeing me as much as possible, bringing me candy and balloons from my other friends. The tornado carved a six mile long and half mile wide path. It's something I'll never forget as I help with the plans for the new school; making sure there is a memorial to the dead on the wall in front of the school. Kai and I are officially dating, and I have a new respect for the things I have. But I have to earn the respect of the world around me. But I plan on following my dreams and becoming a pro martial artist, with my best friends by my side. I can't forget that day, and I can't forget what I've learned. After all, my friends do call me the Green Ninja.


End file.
